On My Way Here
by Sapphire Phantom
Summary: MWPP. Teenage romance, school work, and wizarding. Nothing can go wrong with that, right? Wrong. Watch as the marauders deal with drama, teachers, and... Gilderoy Lockhart? JPLE, RLOC
1. Making Friends

**A/N: we dont own harry potter**

_I've seen the best  
I've seen the worst  
I wouldn't change what I've been through  
I've touched the sky  
I've hit the wall  
But I did what I had to  
Ooooohhhh  
__  
On my way here  
Where I am now  
I've learned to fly  
I have to want to leave the ground  
I've fallen hard  
But I've been loved  
And in the end it all works out  
My faith has conquered fear  
On my way here._

_-On My Way Here: Clay Aiken_

King's Cross-station was full of bustling people commuting to work. A small family walked through the people, the father pushing a large cart that had a cage on top of it carrying a small snowy owl. A boy with jet-black hair who could not have been more than eleven was right beside him. They stopped in front of the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and looked at it.

" I just walk right through?" The jet-black haired boy asked hesitantly. How did that seem possible? It was a wall. If he ran towards it, he would probably be knocked backwards, hurting himself.

" Right through." His mother said. " Don't hesitate, just run."

" You're completely sure?" he said.

" Of course." his father assured him. " Have a good first day, and remember write every week."

" I will." the boy said. He looked back at the barrier still hesitantly. _Here goes, _He thought.

" Bye."

" Bye, sweetheart." the mother said. " We love you."

The boy waved one last time, and started running. He was coming closer and closer to the wall, and then all of a sudden he seemed to be in this whole other place. There was a black train with a red stripe around it in front of him, and there were other people with carts just like his all around him. He must've made it through the wall.

He looked at his watch, and saw that it was eleven already. He decided to get onto the train right then, and not stare around in amazement. He walked towards the train, and found an opening. He walked up to the opening, and tried to push his cart up. _I probably shouldn't have brought so much stuff _he thought. Now he had to get it onto the train.

" Here let me help you." A dark-brown haired boy said, coming up to the entrance. He was already on the train. " I had to have help getting mine on, too." He took the handle of the cart, and pulled it upwards. The brown-haired boy pushed it up, and it was successfully lifted onto the train.

" Thanks." the black-haired boy said, as his owl Snowy hooted from his cage.

" No problem." the boy said, and they walked down the aisle of the train. " I'm Sirius by the way. Sirius Black."

" I'm James," the black haired boy said, putting his hand out for Sirius to shake. " James Potter."

" I had a friend named James once." Sirius said. " I haven't seen him since I was seven. When I was seven, he pushed me down a slide at a muggle park, and I used a spell on him that my Mum once used on my Dad. No one ever knew I used magic, I didn't even intend it. It just happens sometimes, you know?"

" Yeah." James said. Sirius stopped in front of a semi empty compartment. There was a light haired boy sitting in it already, but that didn't bother him. He seemed to be sleeping anyway.

"You want to sit with me?" he asked. " If you don't mind sitting with a sleeping person. I don't even know who he is. This is where I was sitting before, and apparently he didn't mind that someone was already sitting here."

" Sure." James said. Sirius slid the door open, and they walked in. James slid his cart in, and put it on the seat across from where Sirius was sitting.

" Nice owl." Sirius said. " What's her name?"

" Snowy." James answered. " Got her for my birthday to take with me to Hogwarts."

" I don't have an owl." Sirius said. " But we have a rat at home. Forgot him. Oh well, it's all the same without him."

Soon the trolley came around, and James decided that he was hungry enough to get something.

" Four chocolate frogs, please." he told the witch pushing the trolley. " And a Bertie Bots."

He was getting them for him and Sirius.

" That'll be fifteen sickles," she said. James dug into his pockets and pulled out the money. He handed it to her, and she gave him the treats.

Suddenly rustling came from behind them.

" I'll have two pumpkin pastries," the light haired boy said.

" Five sickles." she said. The boy handed her the money, and she gave him the Pumpkin Pastries.

The doors closed, and they were left with their treats.

" These have always been my favorite." the boy said. " That and chocolate. It calms the nerves,"

" Do we know you?" Sirius said, rhetorically.

" Remus Lupin." the boy said. He put out his hand for them to shake. Sirius raised an eyebrow, and shook his hand politely. James shook his hand, too.

" You a first year, too?" James asked.

Remus nodded. " I don't believe I know your names." he said.

" James Potter." James said.

" Sirius Black." Sirius said.

" Your whole family has been in Slytherin, haven't they?" Remus said. "I don't mean to pry, but I've heard the name,"

Sirius nodded. " I'm nothing like them, though." he said, finding himself warming up to Remus. He seemed nice enough.

" My whole family has been in Gryffindor." James said. " I hope to be in that house, too."

" We'll have to see at the sorting, won't we?" Remus said.

"That we do," Sirius agreed.


	2. The Sorting

James looked over at the next car when he and heard yelling. Remus had left to get his bags and that was the last they had heard of him for the last few minutes. He saw two blondes just about their age come out of the train car, and they were the source of the yelling. The boy was quite handsome and had a gorgeous smile matching his near perfect hair and teeth, while the girl who was yelling at him seemed less … perfect. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and her long bangs fell into her face, and she had rolled up the sleeves on her robe, looking more casual then she should have for her first day of school. James couldn't help but be curious about them and tried to listen to their conversation. Sirius did the same.

"Please, Gild, would you be quiet?" the girl hissed. Her hair fell further into her face and she pushed it back, sighing in annoyance when it fell again. She left it alone the third time.

"Stop being jealous! I was the one who saved our cat from choking!" He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, tossed his head back and laughed. It was loud, and seemed rehearsed. He seemed like he was trying to make a scene.

The girl groaned, totally mortified. She blushed when she noticed almost every set of eyes on them. "Mum said the cat choking on a hairball was normal," she pointed out.

"That's just what she wanted us to believe, Tara." Gilderoy replied, loving the attention. He threw his other arm around the black-haired boy nearest them. The boy turned and frowned, scrunching up his nose. The blonde didn't seem to notice. He kept smiling. "Gilderoy and Tara Lockhart, at your service, I hope we can be friends."

The boy laughed sarcastically before running back to his friends. James spotted him pointing at Gilderoy and muttering something that made the others laugh.

Sirius snorted. "What a git!" he looked around and saw the girl who had been with Gilderoy had disappeared into the crowd. "Hm. I dunno why she would hate all that attention."

A voice answered from behind them. "Some don't like much attention centered on them. I know wouldn't. She didn't disguise her distaste for it well at all."

Sirius turned and saw the owner of the voice, Remus, looking back at him. "Ah, there you are. What did you say?" He asked.

Remus smiled. "I don't blame that girl for running off like that. Gilderoy Lockhart's been in the news a lot lately,"

James frowned, recognizing the name. "_That_ was Gilderoy Lockhart?" He asked. "The boy our age doing all those little magic tricks and saving people?"

Remus nodded. "At such a young age, people doubt he even did it." Remus explained.

"So why have we not heard about the girl with him?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged and opened his mouth to reply when a voice that was louder than all the other conversations were heard.

"Excuse me! Excuse me, children!" An airy voice that still seemed authoritative called.

Everyone turned to see a woman standing a few feet away by a few horse-drawn carriages. She clapped, getting the rest of the childrens' attention. Her red hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore a black dress with embroidered designs of various colors along the skirt. She made sure no one else was talking before continuing.

"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts. For those of you who are new, I am Professor McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration here. Now, may I ask you to separate into seven groups: first years, second years, third years, and so on. Depending on your groups, you will be directed to Hogwarts where first years will be sorted, and you others will go to your respective house's table in the Great Hall, am I understood?"

There were a few mutters of 'yes' before the students did as they were told, and soon, they were on their way to Hogwarts.

When James, Sirius, and Remus reached the Great Hall, all they could do was stare. They were amazed at the size of the room itself, along with the ceiling above.

"I wonder what would happen if you threw a rock up there at one of those windows…" Sirius wondered aloud.

"Shh!" Remus hissed.

Sirius made a face at him and was about to retort, when this time it was he who was interrupted my McGonagall's voice.

"Now, children. I see all the students have gone to their house's tables, so that leaves first years to be sorted, so therefore, let the Sorting Ceremony begin!"

There were various cheers from the four tables that were in the room. The shocked first years looked around from the tables to a hat that a tall man was bringing in, and he set it on a stool in the middle of the room. It seemed like a normal hat, but they soon found they were mistaken as it began to sing. Ther first years all gawked in amazement.

_"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The sorting hat can't see,  
So put me on your head and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave of heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart.  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise Ravenclaw  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on, don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a thinking cap!"_

After the applause following the song died down, McGonagall started calling off names. "Abbott, Marie!" she called. She continued down the list and let the students be sorted. "Sirius Black!"

Sirius gulped. "This shouldn't be too bad…" he looked at James. "I'll be seeing you, hopefully in my house, too!"

James nodded and watched his new friend go towards the sorting hat.

Sirius sat down and let the tall teacher put the hat on.

After a couple of moments, the hat yelled "Gryffindor!"

Sirius paused "Just like that?" he asked.

The hat seemed to nod. "Just like that, boy. Don't be coy. Go sit with your house, because as a true friend, you'll stay loyal to your vows,"

Sirius didn't seem to register the last part and just got up, running over to the other applauding Gryffindors. No one noticed he looked half stunned, half fearful at the result.

More names were called, students were sorted.

"Evans, Lily!"

James watched as a redhead slowly approached the sorting hat. As soon as it called Gryffindor, she seemed to relax and ran over to the Gryffindor table where a whole bunch of girls that had been sorted minutes ago were now sitting. "What a loon." he snickered.

" Lockhart, Gilderoy!"

The room became mostly silent, turning to see the boy who most had heard so much about in recent months. Like last time, Gilderoy enjoyed the attention, casting smiles in every direction as he approached the hat.

Remus tried not to laugh, hearing someone a couple of feet away mutter 'Merlin, why must he do that?' he slid between two other students and saw that it was the blonde girl from before. Gilderoy's sister, to be exact. The Ravenclaw table let out cheers when Gilderoy was sorted into their house.

"Lockhart, Tara!" McGonagall called, looking around.

There were many people muttering things along the lines of 'Who's she?' and 'Is she related to Gilderoy?'.

Remus looked at the blonde who was now beside him, and noticed she wasn't moving. He nudged her lightly and lifted the right corner of his mouth in a small smile. "Isn't that you?" he whispered.

Tara stared at him for a moment, then snapped out of her haze and nodded rapidly. "Yes, thank you," she whispered back and approached the hat. She was sorted into Hufflepuff and she quickly sat down at the table. There was less applause for her, and she seemed torn on being happy or hurt about it. They just kept whispering. She looked down to avoid all the stares that were directed at her.

Remus and James couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that one of the siblings hated attention and the other couldn't get enough. He went to the sorting hat when his name was called and went over to Sirius, sitting next to him after he had been sorted into Gryffindor. Next came a short, jittery boy who sat a few feet away from them. The two boys looked over eagerly when James' name was called. Their interest was piqued even more when they heard the sorting hat chuckle.

"Ah, I sense a man growing up strong and knowing right from wrong. Another who will stand by his friends until the end, and his friendships that may be broken will always mend. It's definitely Gryffindor for you, boy!" the sorting had told him.

The Gryffindor table cheered, and Sirius let out the loudest root of them all. James smiled and went over to his newfound friends, waiting for the last person to be sorted. They all watched curiously as a boy with long, jet black hair approached the Sorting Hat. There was just something about him that they didn't like. They put their thoughts aside and waited for a brunette, Mara Zahn, to be sorted, then a man at the center of the table with most of the teachers stood up. He was much older than the others.

"As Professor McGonagall has said already, I welcome you all to Hogwarts, both old faces and new. Because of the large number of first years, I postponed the welcome speech until after the sorting. I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. I run this school, and I remind you that if there are any problems, report them to me immediately," he continued to speak, talking about the school rules and whatnot, and before anyone knew it, everyone was being led back to their house's quarters. James, Sirius and Remus followed their Prefect to Gryffindor Tower, ready to begin their first year as official wizards.

* * *

**Phantom Creedy Lover's A/N: Okay, that was my try at a chapter for this. Now, what I'd like to see (and I'm sure Whitelighter would too) is some reviews! Two reviews is all I'm asking for right now. Drop a line, drop two words, whatever you want, review, please! Do you think that it was okay putting Gilderoy in Gryffindor, because his sister won't, and you'll see why in the next chap if you review!**


	3. First day of classes

**A/N: We don't own harry potter. This is the third chapter of Livin on Love. **

The next day classes began. Professor McGonagall came around with their schedules at breakfast. After breakfast, James, Sirius, and Remus headed to their classes, and by third period Transfiguration, it was Gryffindors and Ravenclaw that day. Sirius knew that Tara Lockhart was in Ravenclaw, so his first objective was to find her to see how she really was. He didn't like Gilderoy too much, and she didn't seem to be too fond of him either.

When they got to Transfiguration, Sirius immediately spotted Tara at one of the desks. " I'll see you two later. I'm curious about something." He said to James and Remus.

" Okay." James said, and he and Remus went to find a desk. After they found one and had sat down, James leaned over to Remus. "You think she'll talk to him? She probably will if she has an ego like Gilderoy's"

"From what I've heard, she doesn't. A lot of people are mad at her for some reason, though," Remus replied. "She probably won't. Too much attention on her," Remus replied.

"I bet she will. Let's make it official. If she does, pay nine sickles and a dung bomb,"

"…Fine. Except if she doesn't… I'll just take the sickles,"

"Agreed," the boys shook hands.

On the other side of the room, Sirius strolled over to the desk she was sitting alone at. He looked at the blonde, blue-eyed girl for a second before he spoke." Hello there, I'm Sirius Black. I was wondering if-"

" No, I'm not getting you Gilderoy's autograph!" Tara cut him off.

Sirius laughed. " What makes you think I'm after that?" he asked, trying not to sound like he already knew the answer, which he did. He had seen a lot of students in the corridors ask her for Gilderoy's autograph. She had accepted the first couple of requests, then she had gotten annoyed after the twenty-fifth, and that was only an hour into their day.

" That's all I've been asked for since I got here." Tara replied. " You're the first one who hasn't sat down right away then asked for an autograph, then when I said no, left right away."

" Well, I'm going to ask about you, and if I could sit here in general. You don't bite, do you?"

Tara sent him a dirty look. " Of course I don't. And I'm sick of your first year attempts to get an autograph, so please, if that's what you want, then leave!"

Sirius chuckled. " You say first year as if it's a bad thing!"

" I would've been a second year if Gilderoy hadn't started up doing magic last year. My parents decided to keep my home for one more year to 'Keep Gilderoy Company!' It's bullocks."

Sirius laughed again. " Well, it looks like you could use a friend, and I'm up for the task. Can I sit here? Thanks." He sat down without waiting for a reply. He tried not to smile when Tara sunk lower on her chair when people around her started whispering about them. " Ignore those loonies and tell me about yourself. I know your name, now I know you're about twelve, what about any interests? What sports do you like?"

Tara sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere fast by asking him to leave.

" I'm boring. My perfect day is curling up with a good book, catching a quidditch match, and then listening to music. You?"

" We have something in common. Quidditch is my life. I'm going to be the best quidditch player the world has ever known." Sirius replied.

Tara chuckled. " Quite confident, aren't you?"

Sirius smirked. " You have no idea." He turned, seeing the Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, had walked into the room. "Welcome to Charms, students. I am Professor Flitwick. If you can take a seat anywhere you wish, we can begin our lesson,"

Despite herself, Tara laughed when Sirius leaned back, apparently getting comfortable next to her. Maybe this year would turn out better than she first thought it would.

**A/N: Sorry this chap was so short. Phantom had another idea but we decided to put it in later. If you were gonna review pointing out the whole no-underage-wizardry-outside of school thing making it impossible for Gilderoy to do magic at a young age, we know. There's gonna be something about that coming up soon. Oh, and if Sirius sitting down by Tara and everyone whispering sounded kinda like the scene with Homer and Quentin in "October Sky", it was supposed to. It's based on it, that's why.**


	4. Quidditch Tryouts

**A/N: Okay, so James may've not been a seeker in his first year, but he was ****Seeker, and this is just kinda putting aside the youngest seeker in a century thing, making James one. Enjoy the next chapter. **

**Special shout out to NUTS 4 MARK from whitelighterleo21: Roger!**

**Thanks for the reviews from NUTS 4 MARK and Sir Stud Muffin**

**Phantom: … Now I dob't have anything to say since Sam stole my little seeker note. Evil person… anyways, enjoy. Reviews will make us update faster. **

--

Tara stopped walking in the hallway when she saw the notice on the wall the next day. She was walking to her next class with James, Sirius and Remus.

"What is it, Goldie Locks?" Sirius asked. He had given her the nickname because of her hair.

Tara pointed at the notice. "Quidditch tryouts are this afternoon, an hour from now since classes are done!" Tara replied, looking at Sirius with a wide grin on her face. "Hooch says I'm good on a broom and that I should tryout," she took his shoulders. "Come tryout with me!"

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno. We wouldn't be on the same team, anyway,"

"So?" Tara demanded. "What's some friendly competition sometimes?" she asked. "Come on, let's sign up,"

"Nah," Sirius shook his head.

Tara frowned, puzzled. "What's happened to you wanting to be the _greatest _Quiddich player ever?"

"Some sense!" Sirius replied. "Have you SEEN the distance from the hoop

to the ground? What if I fall?"

Tara scoffed. "Where's that Gryffindor courage? Come on, I don't wanna be alone!"

Sirius reached behind him and yanked James forward. "He can try out!"

"I can?" James asked after a moment.

"Oh, won't you?" Tara asked. "I barely know you, but you must not be too bad if you're friends with Sirius. Come with me! They'll be getting ready in a matter of minutes!"

James sighed. What did he have to lose? It looked like it would be fun.

"Fine. Let's go,"

"Yes!" Tara raised her arms in victory, and then paused. "Oh, I'm Tara Lockhart by the way. You?"

"James Potter," James replied, offering his hand. He was trying not to laugh. Tara had gone from the quiet girl who was stuck in Gilderoy's shadow to a very friendly young witch, all because Sirius had been nice enough to see what she was like.

"Nice to meet you, now let's go. Don't wanna be late," Tara replied.

The two ran down the hall towards the quidditch fields.

Once they got there, people were already in the stands ready to watch the tryouts. The students trying out were lined up just outside of the field. It was an open tryout, so anyone from any house could try out. Sirius and Remus were with Tara and James for support.

" Lockhart, Gilderoy." The captain of Gryffindor, a girl named Brianna Krauso called out.

" What the…." Tara muttered. " He can't play quidditch for his life."

"This is going to be fun!" Sirius said, glee in his voice.

All of a sudden there was a bang on the field, a sound of someone hitting the ground.

Tara had a huge smile on her face.

" Come on, bring him this way." Brianna's voice said a few seconds later. A few Gryffindors and her walked off of the pitch with Gilderoy hovering in mid air. His eyes were opened. He must have not even been high enough for the fall to knock him out.

" What happened?" James said to her.

" Fool slid right off his broom." Brianna replied.

" I'm quite alright." Gilderoy said picking his head up. " My broom must have been jinxed."

" Yeah, Yeah." One of the Gryffindors said. " Hospital Wing it is."

As Gilderoy was carted off into the school, Tara turned to James, Sirius, and Remus

" He really can't play, I told you." She said.

James tried out next, and then Tara tried out when the Ravenclaws had their turn to try out.

A few hours later Sirius and Remus were outside the Gryffindor common room, waiting eagerly to hear the news about their friends and if they made their respective house's team. When they saw a flash of blonde hair, then black hair, they got up and turned towards the staircase James and Tara were now running up.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"I made chaser for, but James… my god, James made…. I can't even say it!" Tara giggled.

Sirius blinked. "Is it something bad?"

"Far from it" Tara gasped out. She was still gasping for air from laughing so hard. She ended up falling over from laughing so hard, using Remus' leg to keep herself from rolling around.

Sirius looked from her to James. "What did you make?"

James struggled, trying to remember the position. He had been more focused on that boy Severus, who had also tried out. "I don't remember. I think I made Seek-"

"SEEKER?" Sirius' jaw dropped.

James nodded. "Yeah," A moment later, Sirius had joined Tara, laughing on the ground. "I can't believe it! Seeker! Ha!" James looked at Remus, who was the only one other than him remaining upright, but he too looked stunned. "What's so special about seeker?"

"It's just a normal position, but it's the fact that you made it that's surprising as well as funny. A first year hasn't made seeker in quite a few years here," Remus replied, looking down at Tara for a moment and quickly apologized, seeing that when he had pointed his toe upright briefly since his foot was asleep, he had ended up hitting her in the stomach.

"It's okay. I'm fine," Tara shook her head and got up still smiling. "Can you believe it? We know the youngest seeker of this school!"

James blushed as his other two friends gave him a congratulatory pat on the back.

Soon they had all made their way back to the Gryffindor common room and were about to say goodbye to Tara when there was a streak of brown and black, followed by a gold streak.

Tara let out a yelp when the flash hit her at full speed, then she caught it, realizing what it was. "Lennon?" she demanded, looking down at her cat, which was hissing at another cat by her feet. She sighed, getting a better hold of Lennon. "I'm not even going to wonder how you two got in there.

"Gilderoy, go away!"

Remus, Sirius and James looked around. "Uh… your brother's not around," James pointed out.

"No, THAT'S Gilderoy. My brother's cat," Tara explained, pointing at the tan cat at her feet. "And this is mine, Lennon,"

Sirius smirked. "Fan of the Beatles, I take?" he had grown up in an all-magic family, but had heard about the muggle band.

"Of course! You should see my mother with them," Tara replied, stroking Lennon. "Calm down, it's okay. He won't hurt you. That cat has as much ego as my brother does…. and Lennon doesn't like either of them."

Lennon hissed at Gilderoy again. Gilderoy hung its head and trotted off somewhere.

" They even have the same personality. Once told off, they fight it, and then sulk." she sighed. "Well, I better go back to my common room. Lindsey will have a fit," she told them, mentioning the Ravenclaw prefect.

Sirius nodded. "G'night,"

The other two boys nodded and muttered their farewells before going inside, followed by Sirius.

Tara sighed and smiled, going down one of the hallways towards the common room.

"Your brother is that arrogant, eh? Named a bloody cat after himself"

Tara looked to the side at one of the paintings. A knight seemed to be looking back at her, walking along with her, disturbing the other portrait's subjects. "Yes, he is, er..."

"Sir Cadogan, at your service, m'lady," the knight bowed.

Tara curtseyed, humoring him. "Sir Cadogan. Now do excuse me, I really have to be off,"

"Farewell!" Cadogan nodded as she ran down the hallway.

--

The next day James and Remus had just walked into potions, followed by Sirius, who started looking around. James laughed. "Hey Black, where's your girlfriend?"

"Shut up, Potter," Sirius shot back playfully, then spotted the blonde a couple of desks over. He dragged the other two boys over to her, and then noticed Gilderoy was in the seat beside her. "You AGAIN? Oh, your seat's taken,"

Tara looked over and smiled at her friends. Gilderoy didn't even notice until it was too late and she had literally shoved him out of the seat.

"No it's not," Tara smiled innocently.

Gilderoy got up, muttered a few things about making Sirius pay, and then went to the desk a couple of rows up.

" Yeah we'll see." Sirius said, crumpling a piece of parchment up, and flinging it at Gilderoy's head. Gilderoy being unprepared for this, was knocked into his seat harshly.

" That's how the cookie crumbles." Sirius smirked.

" Hey what was that for?" Tara scoffed.

James, Remus, and Sirius looked at her, stunned.

" Go on, we both know you want to laugh." Remus said.

" Remus, I've barely known you a week, and I KNOW you'd never say that." Tara said.

" See? We're rubbing off on him already." Sirius said proudly.

He took the seat in front of her, leaving Remus to sit beside her and James next to Sirius.

"So, was Gilderoy himself yesterday? What did he say he did this time?" Tara asked. Gilderoy had dragged Remus unwillingly into a conversation during Transfiguration. He had ended up turning Remus' wand into a snake that nearly bit Remus. Obviously, he wasn't too happy.

"Saved you from drowning, actually," Remus replied.

Tara snorted. "Go figure he said that. I was eight; he was seven, and I was the one who saved him from drowning. It's amazing. He never wanted to leave my side until a couple of months ago, and now I'm living in his shadow,"

"Face it, he's an idiot," Sirius announced.

All three burst out laughing and kept laughing until the doors to the potions room swung open and their potions teacher, Professor Slughorn walked in.

**A/N: please review. We really want to know what you think.**

**-Phantom whitelighter-  
****Whitelighterleo21 and Phantom Creedy lover.**

**Phantom: We really have to stop putting all three names… **


	5. Polly

**A/N: we don't own harry potter. We never have and never will (Phantom: Damn it!) so…. on with the story? Yeah.**

" No Sirius, you cannot turn a wooden bat into a real bat!" Tara argued, as Sirius sat in front of her in Potions class. They had been having the same argument throughout most of the class. " You're too young, and you'd probably turn it into a cat! This world doesn't need any more Gilderoys!"

" Hey!" the human Gilderoy said, turning around from where he was sitting. " I heard that!"

" Oh who are you kidding?" Tara demanded.

Gilderoy shrugged, and turned back to his desk.

Sirius turned around to face Tara.

" I think I could do it." He said. " The bat could be my pet, and I could train it to attack both Gilderoys for you!" he suggested, smiling hopefully.

In front of Sirius, his potion was starting to bubble ominously, yet he failed to notice.

" Sirius…." James said, noticing it. He poked Sirius' arm with no luck.

" I mean come on!" Sirius went on saying to Tara, as she laughed at the fact that the potion would most likely blow up in his face when he turned around. " What's the point of a wooden bat? All you can do is throw it at people!"

" Sirius." James persisted, still poking him. This wasn't going to end well if Sirius didn't stop the potion from bubbling.

" Shut it." Sirius said to James, not turning around. " I'm making a point here. Tara here is too thick headed to see that I'm right. Real bat is better than wooden one. At least the real bat can do some damage."

" And you're too thick to notice what's literally going on in front of you." Tara laughed. The potion looked about ready to burst.

" What?" Sirius said, turning around. Just as he did, the potion gave way, and the green and purple goo that should have been mixed ten minutes ago was now all over Sirius.

" Hate to say I told you so." Tara said. " Finally something bit you in the ass, and it wasn't that bat!"

" Ms. Lockhart, language!" Slughorn said, his attention now fully on them.

" Sorry, professor." Tara muttered, blushing furiously.

" That's quite alright." Slughorn said. " And Mr. Black! That is the totally opposite of what I taught you today. You need to _mix _the potion as you go along, or as I said, it will blow up in your face. As you can see, I meant literally."

" Yes, I can see." Sirius said sarcastically.

" Here you are." Slughorn said, waving his wand. Sirius was magically cleaned up. " Let this be your first warning." He then walked off to help a Gryffindor whose potion had also blown up.

"See? I'm not the only bozo who doesn't pay attention." Sirius said.

" Is that supposed to make you look better?" Remus smirked. He knew he was quiet, so he wouldn't miss a chance to egg his new friend.

" Oh so now you decide to speak?" Sirius said, noticing then that Remus hadn't said a word in this whole ordeal.

" I decided to let you learn the hard way." Remus said. " Just as you will with that bat of yours."

Sirius nodded. " We'll see." He nodded.

A few minutes later, the class ended, and they were off to lunch.

" I mean a bat would make a good pet wouldn't it?" Sirius asked as they walked down a corridor. " What if I just bought one?" he suggested.

" I don't think they sell them." James said. " My cousin Artemis tried to buy one and the sales witch laughed at him."

Sirius glared at him as they turned a corner.

" For god sakes, you can't get the bat!" Remus pointed out. " Get a cat like Tara. Just don't name it Sirius and we'll all be oka…." He didn't get to finish his sentence, because the stone floor under him gave way, and he was now falling.

Sirius moved closer to the gap in the floor to see Remus falling into pretty much what looked like nothing.

" …Well that's not good." Sirius raised his eyebrows. " See my pet bat could've flown in and got him!"

"Forget the bat!" Tara snapped.

" How long do you think he'll keep falling?" James asked.

" AHHHH!" Remus could be heard, his voice getting more and more muffled.

" …A while." Sirius said, with a shrug. He pulled out chocolate from his pocket. " Could be minutes, hours, months. Anyone want a chocolate bat?"

" God the creator of bats should burn." James shook his head.

" According to Gilderoy, he did it." Tara explained. "He named them. It was his past life, actually. Lousy git."

" I'll do the honor of burning him." Sirius said, raising his hand.

" Let's get our friend first." James said. He noticed Sirius still eating the chocolate bats.

" What's more important? Our friend falling into nothingness, or that chocolate bat?" James demanded.

Sirius frowned. " The chocolate bat is melting!" he cried.

" Sirius!" Tara objected.

" Oh right!" Sirius said, throwing the chocolate to the side. He went up to the hole. " My he looks like an ant!"

Tara glared at him.

" I'm getting to it." He said, and pointed his wand at the hole.

" What have I become friends with?!" Tara muttered to herself, putting her head in her hands.

" _Levicorpus_!" Sirius said. Remus was instantly pulled up, upside down by his ankle. "Here you go, mate." Sirius let Remus fall to the ground.

When Remus recovered, he looked up at Tara." Remind me to make him pay someday." He said.

" Will do." Tara said. " By the way Sirius where did you learn that spell?"

" Err Brother…" Sirius said, mysteriously. They all looked at him. " Okay, my mom sometimes does that to my dad when she gets really angry."

" I think there may have been a door down there." Remus said. " I saw one, but I kept falling. I think all you have to do is jump onto the platform."

" A secret passage way to where?" Sirius said.

" I don't know, you tell me." Tara said, and pushed him over the edge of the hole.

" AHHH!" Sirius yelled. He paused for a second. " It really is quite filthy down here. Hey look! A bat! You shall be named Polly, and you shall be mine, and you shall be my Polly! No Polly! Don't fly away! POLLY!"

" Is he there yet?" James said.

" I'm here!" Sirius said. " Without Polly." He added, sadly.

" Get over it." Tara said. " What do you see?"

" Other than the fact that he has no brain power whatsoever." Remus whispered in her ear.

She tried not to snort.

" There's a door." Sirius pointed out.

" Thank you Captain Obvious." Remus said sarcastically.

" There's a light!" Sirius said. " Oh pretty light!"

" Sirius, shut up!" Tara said. " Where does it lead to?"

" It's some kind of store. It's empty. It looks like it hasn't been occupied in years. Hey this could be a hang out!"

"God that's exactly what he needs." Tara said sarcastically. " A hang out where he can turn things into bats."

" POLLY!" Sirius said. "Thanks for reminding me Tara. I'm more sad now."

Tara rolled her eyes. " Should we leave him here?" she said. " We never know what he can hear us saying so we should leave anyway."

" I don't think he'd like that." James said. " We'd get in loads of trouble." He preformed the 'Levicorpus spell' and got Sirius out of the hole.

That afternoon had definitely been an adventure.

**Phantom's A/N: We don't own Finding Nemo, either, and… uh… cricket… is there anything else to say?? Review. There we go. Hope you enjoyed… and what did you think of Polly?**

**Whiteligher's A/N: Yeah Finding Nemo isn't ours. Neither is Squishy…or Polly in this case. Review, please and tell us what you thought. **

**NUTS 4 MARK: Roger is my buddy**

**Review!**

**Phantom: ... That's pretty much repeating what I said... and Polly IS ours... anyways, we apologize to Sirius fans for his behavior here. He'll be normal soon... and in the sequel, but that's just common sense.**

**-Phantom Whitelighter-**


	6. Nod Nod, Punch Punch

**A/N from whitelighter : We don't own Harry Potter, and in the words of Piper Halliwell…yada yada yada.  
Phantom: She got that from somewhere else, genius. Anyways, I feel bad now because my review for this when I pointed a few things looks like it could be from Flame Rising. Anyways, moving on, and I hope you enjoy.**

James, Sirius and Remus were sitting at a table in the middle of their Study Hall when they heard the strange black-haired boy, Snape making fun of a blond boy.

"Hey look, Lil. He's cowering like the rat that he truly is! I told you he'd be scared because of that potion exploding in his face!" Snape taunted.

"Leave me alone, Snape!" the boy whimpered.

James looked from Sirius to Remus. Sirius seemed to be smirking as if agreeing with Snape, while Remus looked like he felt bad for the boy.

He looked over at 'Lil' the redhead whose expression matched Remus'. It took him a moment to realize it was Lily Evans. He looked back at Snape.

"Leave him alone, Severus," Lily murmured.

"Look at him," Severus went on, ignoring her. " His watery little eyes, and what is wrong with his hair,"

" He should be one to talk." Sirius muttered. " I mean where did all that grease come from?"

" Leave him alone." The girl named Lily repeated.

" It's fun." Snape said. " And easy. He doesn't even fight back!"

" You heard her, leave him alone!" James said, getting to his feet. Where his courage came from, he did not know, but he couldn't sit here and watch this anymore.

" What did you say?" Snape's attention was no longer on the boy, but on James.

" You're not being very nice to him," James said. " What did he ever do to you?"

" Oh, so James Potter has decided to be a hero now?" Snape mocked. " Well, step down little boy,"

" No, I won't," James said.

" Well, if that's the way you want to play it," Snape said, coming closer to James, raising his fists. Before Snape could even bring his fist close to James' face, James raised his own fist and clocked Snape in the face.

Remus and Sirius gaped at him. " Whoa where did that come from?" Sirius said, dumbfounded as Snape fell to the floor.

" I don't know..." James said. " But that felt good,"

" I can't believe my eyes," Sirius said. " I'm so proud!"

He raised his hand to James, and gave him a high five.

" You shouldn't be," Remus said. " He could get into a lot of trouble,"

" Oh stop being a killjoy!" Sirius said. " James just punched someone,"

" Which I am totally grateful for," The boy that Snape had been taunting said, coming up to them.

" Yeah, well he won't be bothering you anymore," Sirius said. " Or he deals with me…it looked like fun to punch him, so…" he trailed off and smiled.

" I'm Peter, by the way," the boy said. " Peter Pettegrew,"

The boys looked back over at where Snape was when they heard rustling.

" Severus are you alright?" the girl named Lily said, running up to Snape. She looked petrified, obviously now realizing what had just happened.

" Yeah, I'm alright," Severus said, his voice barely audible. He hadn't expected the punch from James, and it was obvious he wasn't thrilled.

Lily helped him stand up so that he was facing her. Snape turned around to face James after sending her a weak smile. " How dare you?" he demanded. I am reporting you!"

" You do that, ninny," Sirius said.

Snape fled from the Great Hall with Lily, not even bothering to say another word.

" Hah, we showed him," Sirius said proudly.

" Or he's going to get authorities," James said. There was a long silence.

" Looks like he did report you. A teacher's coming this way," Remus pointed out as they saw a man with ice blue eyes and short, light blonde hair began making his way over to them with Snape at his heels.

" There are two options," Sirius said. "We face the music…" he was silent for a small while.

" The other option?" James asked, eagerly waiting for it since the teacher drew closer.

" We run!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping out of his chair.

"This is the Great Hall. There aren't many places to go," Remus pointed out. " Where would we run to?" Remus said, now thinking that his friend might be literally crazy. He looked around.

" Mexico!" Sirius said after a moment, getting ready to break out in a run.

" Boys, Boys," The teacher was now close enough for them to hear. Lily was still standing where she had been before, waiting to see what would happen.

The teacher stopped right in front of them. Snape glared at them with such triumph in his eyes, confident that he was getting them into a lot of trouble.

" Mr. Snape tells me that you two had a tiff," He said to James. James recognized him as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Johnson.

" It was more than a tiff," Snape said. " He punched me!"

" Did he have a reason?" Johnson asked, turning his attention to Snape.

Snape gaped at him. " What reason would he have to punch me?" he said, trying to sound innocent.

" You see, professor..." James said. " He was provoking my friend Peter here, when Peter did nothing wrong,"

Johnson looked at Peter. Peter nodded, indicating it was the truth.

" Pettegrew s-stole my homework!" Snape choked out. He was obviously lying.

" Right," Johnson said. "Snape, leave the boy alone,"

" What about Potter punching me?" Snape said.

" Well, let's see." Johnson said, bringing his hand up to his chiseled jaw. "Five points from Gryffindor for James here punching you, ten given to Gryffindor for James defending a fellow Gryffindor, and let's see…five points from Slytherin for provoking another student."

Snape gasped. " That's not fair!" He argued.

" I don't make the rules up, terribly sorry. It seems like a fitting punishment. I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore would agree," Johnson shrugged.

Snape frowned and walked away, seeing he had lost his battle.

" Thank you professor," Sirius said.

" I can sense an attention seeker when I see one," Johnson explained, nodding his head at Snape. " And a person who bullies people... actually, I can tell you're a bit of an attention seeker yourself, Mr. ...?"

"Black, Sirius Black," Sirius introduced himself.

"Mr. Black," Johnson restated. He turned, seeing Tara coming over to them. Gryffindors, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw all had Study Hall at the same time that day. Tara had just come back from helping one of her professors and had seen the last few moments of the commotion.

"James, what did you do now?" she demanded.

Johnson chuckled. "Maybe I should keep an eye on you five after all!"

"Four, Professor. I'm not as insane as these people... well, Remus here isn't either, but... oh, you get the point!" she waved her arms.

Johnson's chuckle turned into a laugh. "Indeed. You look like another one of my students who also has a knack for getting attention... Lockhart, I believe. Gilderoy Lockhart,"

Tara sighed. "Yes, I'm Tara Lockhart, his older sister. Try living with him and his love for attention... it isn't pretty,"

" No, I don't think so." Johnson smiled. "Well, nice to meet the couple of you I haven't met, Miss. Lockhart, good luck with your brother. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've just gotten word about a student getting his wand stuck in the keyhole of the library's restricted section's door. I've been requested to help him out,"

"Bye," the students waved as he turned back around and exited the hall, waiting for him to leave before bursting out laughing at what he had just explained he had to do. That was probably quite a sight. Personally, James and Sirius couldn't wait until they formed up a plan to get themselves in as much trouble as the boy would.

**A/Ns: from whitelighter: please review. We will update a.s.a.p. Thanks for reading, and please review to tell us what you thought. Recognize the 'run to mexico' line? It's from Friends.**

Phantom: Just to let you know, Johnson will soon become the Marauder's Hagrid type friend. How they learn to trust him, though... well, you'll just have to find out, won't you?

**-Phantom whitelighter-**


	7. Watching Clouds

**A/N: we dont own harry potter.  
Phantom: Thanks for the reviews, and hope you enjoy this one. I know it wasn't really said in books or anything, but we have Snape on the Quiddich team as well here. She wanted him on it, I didn't... I lost. Ha, it's kinda obvious where the cutoff of where I handed the chap off to Whitelighter is. Now I'm rambling. Moving on.  
**

A year had already passed, and the Marauder's friendship grew even stronger.

Sirius had come up with the nickname for the group because they kept on sneaking around and finding other hidden rooms and passageways, making them their own with various odds and ends. They had even made Tara an 'honorary-but-unofficial Marauder'.

Now it was barely a month into their second year. A lot of things had changed. Because she hadn't seen the boys most of the summer and beginning of the year, though they did get a few words in during one of the passings, Lily had tried to reel Tara in with her circle of friends. Tara liked Lily, but she also figured Lily's friends wanted her with them just to see if they could get closer to Gilderoy. She also made friends with Severus, but kept her distance because of the way that she had first encountered him, during his fight with James. Fights between them nearly constantly broke out, but Professor Johnson always seemed to be looking out for them, baling them out yet still giving them a just punishment all the same.

The blonde was now sitting under a tree in the courtyard, reading one of her books of the new subject Johnson was teaching, Magical Marine Creatures. She looked up and glared at her brother who was about five feet away, trying to juggle a few silver balls.

"Look at this! Ha ha!" Gilderoy laughed.

Tara rolled her eyes and looked back at her book, then let out a yelp when she felt a hand go over her mouth. She went to yell for Gilderoy, but he was too absorbed in what he was doing. She let out another muffled yell, and then stopped when something flicked her head. She looked to the side and saw that it was Remus who had his hand over her mouth and he had flicked her head to make her stop screaming. She pulled his hand off her mouth.

"What's your problem?!" she hissed.

"Shh. Come on. Do you want to come with us or just watch your brother get drooled over all bloody day?" Remus hissed, getting to his feet just as a bunch of people had come over to see what Gilderoy was up to.

She sighed. "Help me up, would you?"

Remus took her hand and pulled her to her feet and led her over to where the rest of the marauders were. They both had to laugh because James, Sirius and Peter were now lying down on the ground in three fifths of a pentagon, staring up at the sky. They also felt bad for Peter since Sirius had his feet up on Peter's chest, so the blonde was getting quite an awful smell, and James had his feet up on Peter's legs, so Peter didn't have much of a way to escape if come need be.

"There you are, Goldie Locks! I haven't seen you in ages!" Sirius called. "Come on, then!" he patted the spot above him.

Tara chuckled. "And you're doing what, exactly?"

"Who cares? Just come on!"

Tara sighed and looked at Remus. Both of them went over to the three and lay down, completing the pentagon. Sirius put his head up on Tara's shins and got comfortable, just as James did the same with Remus. She couldn't help put laugh when she went to put her head down and ended up putting it on Remus' bicep, but he didn't seem to mind.

They all looked up, watching as a few clouds passed by overhead.

Sirius sat up slightly when he saw one of the clouds. "Hey, that one looks just like-" he found that he had three wands pointing at him.

"Sirius, say 'Polly' and we'll all jinx you into the next century. Well, all of us but Peter, that is," James said.

"Why? Who's Polly?" Peter asked, gagging and cursing for his stupidity of opening his mouth so he breathed in the smell coming from Sirius' feet.

"DON'T GET HIM STARTED!" James, Remus and Tara yelled simultaneously.

" I wasn't going to say Polly…" Sirius said. " Even though I do miss him…I was going to say that it looked like a doughnut,"

" How do you get a doughnut out of that?" James said.

" I don't know," Sirius said. " It's my imagination…"

" Sometimes I wonder with you," Remus said. He shook his head and laughed.

" I think it looks like a quaffle." Peter said. "It's even the same color,"

" There's a reason for that!" Tara replied quickly. "It _IS_ a quaffle!"

Everyone's eyes widened at the quaffle that was heading towards them.

"Get out of the way!" Remus yelled.

They all scrambled from their spots, Peter being the last since he had to wait for Sirius and James to get out of the way.

" Oh I'm sorry did I startle you?" a drawling voice said, coming up to them. " I hope my quiddich practice didn't bother you."

It was Snape walking up to them with quiddich robes on. He had made the Slytherin team earlier in the year.

" We wouldn't want to hurt Potter here, since the big game is next week,"

" No we wouldn't," Sirius said, picking up the quaffle that had almost hit them. He shoved it into Snape's arms. " He's the best player there is,"

" There are a lot of people who would _beg _to differ," Snape said. " Good day,". He walked away towards the quiddich pitch, leaving James and Sirius to glower at him.

" Don't let him get to you," Remus said. " He's a nothing. James you know you're the best... er, on Gryffindor," he added, looking at the blonde girl beside him who just glared at him playfully.

" I know," James said. " And he'll realize that when I beat him in the game next week,"

" We'll show him," Sirius said. " And his little girlfriend, too!"

" Do you think he's going out with that Lily girl?" James said.

" I think he is," Sirius said. " She doesn't seem to bad does she though? I don't know what she'd be doing with him,"

" Yeah." James muttered.

Remus and Sirius shrugged befor starting back towards the castle, but Tara pulled James back. "You like her, don't you?"

"Who?" James asked.

"Lily, of course! No one would sound that miserable talking about a girl possibly being taken by another person that they hate if they didn't!"

James blushed, then sighed. "Don't tell anyone,"

Tara winked at him. "Your secret's safe with me. Come on, we've got to catch up," the two ran after Remus and Sirius.

**A/N: please review. **

**-Phantom Whitelighter**


	8. Puddles

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. We don't own Harry Potter. Phantom would like to apologize for the chapter being short. We hope you enjoy the chapter... Phantom would also like to add "Review, damn it!" to the note... or she'll sick "Achmed the Dead Terrorist on you... though that won't do much damage... "**

Remus glanced up at Sirius when he saw the now-familiar mischievous gleam in  
his friend's eyes. " Uh-oh what are you up to?" he asked.

The boys were sitting under a tree just outside the quidditch pitch with  
James. It was an overcast and muggy day with dark clouds lining up all along  
the pitch. The past two days had been miserable and raining. Even through  
this weather, the quidditch game was still on. Not much could cancel a  
quidditch game. It was about an hour until the game was going to start,  
which was at one.

Tara and her friends Sabrina and Bridget were a few feet from them.

Remus saw that the look was directed at her. ". . . Now I'm worried. Not for  
her, for you. What are you planning?"

" You'll see." Sirius smirked. " I must not divulge my plan,"

Remus grimaced. " Don't do it," he warned. " I see that glint in your eye.  
You're up to something and its gonna backfire, just as always,"

" No it won't," Sirius said. " I'll be back,". Slowly and quietly, Sirius  
crept away from them, inching closer to Tara and her two other friends.  
Neither of them could see him, so it was a great opportunity. Just as he was  
about to pounce, Tara's voice interrupted him.

" Hi, Sirius," she said. She waited a few moments, then turned and smirked  
at him.

" Damn," Sirius said. " How'd you know I was there?"

Tara laughed, and pointed to a puddle diagonal to her. " I saw your  
reflection," she told him. " Next time you want to sneak up on me, check for  
puddles,"

Bridget and Sabrina burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right," Sirius snapped. " Oh, and I hope you're ready for the  
quidditch match. I'm surprised you're just standing here. The match is about  
to start,"

" What?" Tara demanded. "You're mad! The match doesn't start for another  
hour,"

" It's five minutes till start." Sirius told her, pulling out his pocket  
watch and showing it to her to prove it. " You must have lost track of time.  
Good luck,"

"Bugger!" Tara cried. " Why didn't one of you tell me?" She glared at both  
of her friends before running off to the quidditch pitch in a panic.

Sirius laughed, and turned away from Bridget and Sabrina. " Teach her to use  
puddles against me." he muttered, as he walked away.

"What happened?" James asked, when Sirius got back to them.

" Let's just say I fought fire with fire." Sirius grinned. " Never again  
will a puddle be used against me."

" What?" Remus said, confused. "What does a puddle have to do with  
anything?"

" In time you'll see my friend." Sirius said, patting him on the shoulder.  
" In time you'll see."

" SIRIUS!" Tara's voice rang so loud from the quidditch pitch, it sounded as  
if Tara was standing right next to him.

" Need I say more?" Sirius grinned.

" You told her the game was starting, didn't you?" Remus said, slowly.

Sirius nodded, barely able to control his glee.

" After she saw you creeping up on her through a puddle." Remus continued.

He nodded again, a surprised look on his face that Remus had figured it all  
out.

" I'm intuitive." Remus shrugged. " And I know you."

" Great job!" James cried, taking Remus by the shoulders and shaking him  
lightly.

Remus chuckled.

" She's really mad at you, you know, " Bridget said. The three hadn't  
noticed the two girls walk over to them.

" _She's really mad at you, you know" _Sirius mimicked her in a high voice  
that sounded strangely close to his own mother's. " Let her take me on. We'll  
see who wins,"

" My votes for Tara." Sabrina said. " Have you ever gone up against her?"

" No," Sirius shook his head. " Not really, but I so totally could. Me and  
James,"

" James and I." Remus corrected.

" Oh do you think I care?!" Sirius cried.

Remus shrugged. "No, and you'd still lose either way,"

Bridget laughed and James nodded in agreement.

" Okay maybe we'll need Polly, too." Sirius added.

" Who's…?" Bridget started, but Remus held up his hand.

" Don't…ask," Remus waved his hand. " Now, I don't care whom could take on  
whom, we need to get over to the quidditch pitch to get good seats."

"Right!" Sirius jumped to his feet. "Let's see her fail at that, then!"

----------------------------

"They won," Sirius growled just about two hours later. Obviously, Ravenclaw  
had gotten the snitch first, but they had also beaten Hufflepuff 80 to 30.  
Half of those goals had belonged to Tara.

"Awww, jealous, Sirius?"

Remus grunted a bit when he felt a weight hit his back, but when he  
recognized the black hoodie with a silver stripe down the side and blue  
jeans with a raven drawn on the right thigh that he suddenly found around  
his waist and arms, he relaxed, realizing Tara had jumped onto his back. He  
got a better hold on her, then looked to the side. "Good job out there,"

"Thank you," she laughed, then looked over at Sirius and aimed a light kick  
at his behind. When he jumped, she laughed again. "Aren't you gonna  
congratulate me?"

"Yeah. Good job," Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Cheer up, Sirius. Just remember you had your shot at glory but lost it when  
you didn't try out,"

Sirius now let out a literal growl, turning to Johnson, who had also just  
joined them. "Oh, thank you so much, Blondie," he snapped, then laughed,  
almost maniacally. "Ha, we have both Goldie and Blondie, here. Oh, the  
irony," he fell backwards dramatically, catching himself before he hit the  
ground.

Johnson snickered a bit, then paused. "Oh, I mean, are you alright, Black?"  
he glanced up when he heard yelling, spotting Severus and Peter a few feet  
away, and just like last time, Severus was picking on him. ". Not again,"

"I smell trouble," Remus agreed.

Johnson looked back at them. "Stay here," he ordered. "I mean it," he added  
with a glance at Sirius before starting on his way towards Peter and Severus.

Sirius leaned towards the others. "Listen to him?"

"No," they all replied and started making their way over to the scene,  
trailing closely behind Johnson.

After a few moments, Johnson finally realized he was being followed. "Will  
you ever listen?"

"Nope," they all replied.  
**  
A/N: please review. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. HAPPY NEW YEAR.  
-phantom whitelighter**


	9. Denoument

**A/N: We don't own Harry Potter**

" James?James!" Tara tapped James on the shoulder, pulling him out of his dream like state.

" Wha-" James gasped, jumping at her touch.

" Are you daydreaming AGAIN?" Tara demanded. " Let me guess, about lover girl?"

" Hey!" James objected, in a low voice so that only Tara could hear him.

" Am I wrong?" Tara said, raising an eyebrow.

James looked at her, and sighed. " No." he admitted.

" See?" Tara said. " Stop daydreaming and listen to Johnson, because guess what? You're not copying my notes. Not today, not ever."

" Oh come on, there are ways of getting your notes without you giving them to us." Sirius said, from beside James. " It's not that hard. It's pretty simple, actually. You just…"

Tara rolled her eyes. " That would explain a lot." she said.

" Although we don't pass much of anything…" Sirius scratched his head. " So you should really take better notes."

" How about this…" Tara's eyes went thin. " You take your own notes."

" You want us to sit here like chums and take notes?" Sirius chuckled. " Yeah, right."

Tara rolled her eyes again, and looked around the room. No one was paying attention, but Johnson was still talking. She looked back at Sirius and James.

" Does anyone pay attention?" she muttered rhetorically.

" No." Sirius answered anyway.

Suddenly in the front of the room, Johnson's desk caught fire with a load roar.

Everyone's attention was immediately on him. He tapped his wand against the desk, and the fire went out.

" Paying attention now?" he asked. Everyone just stared at him with amused looks on their faces.

" Don't try that at home, by the way." Johnson told them. His focus went to Sirius. " Sirius."

" That was bloody awesome!" Sirius cried. " Teach me!" he begged, making everyone laugh.

" Er…no." Johnson said. " That's highly dangerous. Oh, and home also counts as here at Hogwarts, too."

Sirius grinned at James, as if he had a trick up his sleeve.

" Or on the school grounds…or at Hogsmeade," Johnson added.

Sirius opened his mouth, ready to speak.

" Or the Forbidden Forest," Johnson shot him down.

Sirius shut his mouth, and looked at James. " Damn bloody brilliant brain of his," he muttered. " No room for loopholes!"

" Its way too dangerous for anyone to try unless they know exactly how to do it, and how to put it out the right way." Johnson continued, staring right at the brunette, trying to get his point across but failing miserably.

" Danger is my middle name!" Gilderoy whispered to Tara, from in back of her.

Tara turned around, looking amused. " I thought that was Oswald." she said.

" Shut up, no ones supposed to know that." he growled, as everyone including Johnson burst out laughing.

Tara smirked at him, and shrugged.

Gilderoy scowled. " Why don't you tell them _your_ middle name." he suggested.

" Enough!" Johnson called, secretly disappointed it ended there.

Gilderoy jumped, and faced front. Tara made a mental note to hug Johnson later.

The bell rung at that moment, making Gilderoy jump again, except this time he fell out of his chair and onto his butt.

Sirius, James, Remus, and Tara looked at Johnson , and burst out laughing.

Gilderoy got up, and glared at them. " I hate you all." he said, and left the room.

" I have that affect on people." Johnson told them, with a shrug, once everyone else left. He looked at Tara. " And you're welcome."

" Thanks." Tara blushed.

" So, Goldie Locks, what _is_ your middle name?" Sirius teased.

Tara blushed even more of a crimson color.

" Oh I see." Sirius said. " That bad, huh? What is it, Bathalda?"

" Okay, its not _that _bad." she admitted. " If you must know, and if you tell anyone I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands."

" Oh, I'm so afraid." Sirius mocked . " Just tell us."

Remus shook his head. " You have my word." he assured her.

Sirius jumped, and turned to face him. " When did you get here?" he said, freaked out.

" I'm a ninja." Remus said. " No, I just walked in the door, looking for you guys. Remember I had to go some where during this class?"

" Oh…yeah." Sirius said, still kind of freaked out.

" Anyway, its not you I'm worried about." Tara said. " It's those baboons over there I don't trust." She gestured to James and Sirius.

Johnson chuckled, but covered it up as a loud cough. Tara turned to look at him.

" Er… I wouldn't either." he told her. She smirked, and turned back to Remus. James and Sirius just looked at Johnson in disgust. He winked at them with a slight grin. They laughed.

" What?" Tara demanded.

" Nothing." Sirius said, as he and James straightened out their faces. " Anyway, what's your middle name? Don't tell me it's Goldie Locks. If so, I'm bloody brilliant.

Tara shook her head. " No." she said. " It's not _Goldie Locks_…It's Athena."

" Athena?" James demanded. " All that suspense and denoument for _Athena_?"

" Well, yeah."

"That's a normal name compared to lets say 'Cantaloupe'" James pointed out.

" I think it's real perty." Sirius teased.

Tara shook her head, and shoved Sirius, catching him off guard, making him fall backwards.

" Hey!" he cried, from the ground. He got back up, and brushed himself off a bit. " What did I ever do to you?"

" Did you seriously just ask that?" Remus said.

Tara rolled her eyes, and pushed him over again, before walking away.

" You'd think he'd learn." Remus laughed.

Sirius scowled. " Don't worry, she'll get hers." he promised. "She'll get hers!"

"Good luck with that." Remus grinned. They left the room, following behind Tara.

The group turned the corner and started cutting their way through the courtyard to head to their next respective classes. They had just gotten under one of the trees, with Sirius trailing slightly behind, when there was a sudden shuffle sound, followed by a hard 'thud'. Remus, James and Tara turned, then were puzzled, seeing Sirius wasn't there. "What…?" then they heard a muffled voice come from the ground, and looked down, seeing Sirius twitching on the ground, due to someone on top of him.

The culprit got up. "Sorry, mate. I was aimin' for the girl," the young man explained, an Australian accent evident in his voice.

Sirius bolted upright, starting to yank on the crown of his hair to try and get it back to normal. He glared at the newcomer. "Who?"

"His name is Jack. Jack Parker. Bridget's twin brother," Tara replied, pushing her way through them to see the fellow Ravenclaw. "What do you want, Jack?"

"Can't a guy see a friend?" Jack asked.

"Depends what you want," Tara replied.

Jack grinned. "Thought you'd want this back," he replied, holding out a silver chain before dropping it into her hands.

She grinned, seeing the silver snitch that was on it. "How'd you find this? I've been looking all over for it!"

He shrugged and smiled. "Well, when you leave it with Bridge, who yelled my name for some reason, then I got smacked in the face with it, it's hard to miss, eh?"

"Why would it hit you in the face?" Sirius asked.

Tara turned to him. "This thing leads you to something you're missing or just need to find in general. You just say what you're looking for and well… find out. Here's an example," she held it out. "Sirius Black,"

The silver charm suddenly flew up slightly, then zoomed forward, hitting Sirius between the eyes.

The young man let out a little growl when Jack snorted. "You'll pay," he growled. "Both of you!" he pointed at them dramatically before heading for his class, leaving the rest of them alone.

Jack watched him, then turned to the others. "Well, that was fun,"

"Wasn't it?" everyone agreed.

**A/N: Review please, with chocolate covered cherries on top. The chocolate comes from Lupin, by the way, so it's special chocolate. Update will be up a.s.a.p.**

**-phantom whitelighter-**


	10. This is Some Halloween

**A/N: We are sooooooo sorry for the wait. Life happens, you know? Anyways, here's the chapter... and a wayyyy overdue little "haha, we're geniuses moments"- Sirius totally loves his pet bat Polly in this fic. What was the first thing you saw in Deathly Hallows part 1 when you see Sirius' room? A bat skeleton. He kept his animal friend even after death. XD Anyways, we hope this chapter makes up for the long wait.**

* * *

"Just… stick it in already. Get it over with."

"I can't even see to put it somewhere! You're no help!"

"I'm getting the other thing in!"

Sirius and James just stared at each other as they sat, waiting outside the girl's lavatory for Tara and Bridget to come out. They had all heard strange things happen on Halloween, but this was just downright strange. Just what were they overhearing from inside? What was going on? Sirius decided to throw caution to the wind and knocked on the door. "Goldie Locks, Bridge, what exactly are you two doing?"

Tara poked her head out- well, the recognizable part of her head, anyway. Her hair was sticking out every which way in certain areas, and the blonde was broken up by several streaks of vibrant blues, purples and greens. "Getting changed into our costumes, of course. Where are yours? What're you two doing outside the bathroom? And where's Remus?"

Sirius dug into the bag he had at his side and pulled out a mask- a bat mask, to be more precise. James followed suit, smiling to reveal a set of pointy teeth.

Tara looked skeptically at them. "A bat and a vampire? How original."

"Not JUST a bat. I'm Polly." Sirius said, all proud of himself, "Besides, what're you, a rockstar?"

"Uh huh." Tara nodded, and with that, disappeared into the room again. "At least Remus would appreciate it!" she called.

"Ne ne ne ne ne." Sirius made a face. "Not my fault he disappeared on Halloween. He wants to be boring, let him be." He replied. "It's a full moon on Halloween, too. You would think he'd appreciate the creepiness of it all."

"And you're not the least bit worried?" James asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nope. Now let's go find you a cloak to complete your look!" Sirius beamed and hurried off.

James opened his mouth, then shut it, wondering what to say. "We'll meet you in the Great Hall in half an hour!"

"Deal!" the girls chorused from inside.

James nodded and ran off in the direction Sirius had gone. After a couple of minutes of searching, he saw Sirius ducking into an old broom cupboard. "Sirius? What're you doing?"

In the blink of an eye, Sirius was standing straight, his hands behind his back. The position he was standing in was suspicious, and James knew there was something going on.

"Nothing," Sirius said, in a high pitched voice. James raised an eyebrow at him, he sighed, tilting his head to the side, "Okay, not nothing,"

"What happened then?" James said.

"I thought I saw Polly," Sirius admitted, "But…no Polly," He shrugged, looking down at the ground. But James knew that wasn't the whole story, because if it was, Sirius would have suggested going to find some Halloween treats around the castle right away.

"What've you got behind your back there?"

"Behind my back?" Sirius looked up at him, shrugging one more, yet keeping his hands behind his back, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Then you'll have no problem showing me your hands?" James smirked. He knew his best friend better than his best friend knew.

Sirius frowned. James always had to be paternal. "So maybe there is something in my hands…" he admitted, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"I kind of figured that." James grinned, "and why are we whispering?"

Sirius nudged his head towards the direction of a corridor to their right. It was unoccupied, and Sirius led them, walking backwards, towards corner some of the way down. Finally he shoved his hands forward so that James could see velvet looking colorful cloak dangling from his fingertips.

"What's so special about a colorful cloak?" James inquired. Why Sirius was so easily amused, he would never know.

"Can a regular cloak do this?" Sirius wrapped the cloak around him, and then all James could see was his head. In disbelief, he rubbed his eyes, and looked back at the same thing.

"What in the bloody hell just happened?" James squeaked. "Your body's gone!"

"It's this cloak," Sirius suddenly became visible again, and with a flourish of his hands, the cloak was dangling from his fingertips once more, "I put my hands inside that cupboard, and they were invisible. I think this makes the wearer invisible."

"You think?" James spat, "You think? You were just invisible."

"I know!" Sirius said, joyfully, barely able to contain himself as he bounced on the tops of his feet. "Think of the great things we could do with this. Only don't tell anyone, because they'll go squawk to the whole world and Filch'll snatch it for sure."

"I love how your first instinct is to make sure I don't tell anyone," James said, "Because that's really the biggest issue here. What about Remus, Peter and Tara?"

"Oh, don't tell Remus," Sirius frowned, "He'll want to tell someone about it, do the right thing, be all… good. The others… Peter would probably die from shock, and Tara'd be floored like I am." He let the cloak slip from his fingers only to put his hand under the path of the cloak so it covered his hand when it landed there. He let out another disbelieving laugh.

"True… speaking of Remus, any chance you saw him over here and we just kept missing him?

Sirius beamed. "Nope. Besides, he's the most mature out of all of us. He can handle himself. We have half an hour to kill, my friend! Let's go have a bit of fun!" He held up the cloak and moved it around his fingers again so each digit disappeared at random intervals.

James frowned. "You're not going into the girls' lavatory with that thing. Not alone, not with me."

"Right… that doesn't mean we can't scare the willies out of Lockhart-"

"Tara will kill you-"

"Not that Lockhart, the other one- the ugly one."

"I wouldn't call him ugly…" James started, but he stopped when Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, we'll go with your plan then?" James said. Sirius grinned, and threw the cloak over them. It didn't seem it, but it was big enough to completely cover the both of them, so that their feet or arms didn't stick out or anything.

They walked together down one of the Hogwarts corridors. After three years in Hogwarts the school was still a mystery. It was like a whole new corridor appeared every day that they'd never seen before. This one was a mystery. It was bizarre. What was more bizarre was the noise that James just heard; it was a kind of squeak that made his skin get goosebumps, and the hair on the back of his neck stick up straight.

"Did you hear that?" he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Its Halloween," Sirius pointed out, "I've heard lots of weird things today. Such as you saying Lockhart isn't hideous."

"No, I heard something," James persisted, "Step back again."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but did so anyway. Nothing happened. "See?" Sirius inquired, "Nothing." He bounced back on his heels, and the squeak came out of nowhere again.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear that."

"No, I did," Sirius said, "I want to know why the floor is doing that."

"I'd rather not find out," James said hesitantly.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't you know what that squeak usually means? It means the floor is hollow under here." He jumped up, a couple of inches of the floor and came down so it squeaked again.

James frowned. "Or does it just mean the floor is very, very old, you know, like this school."

"Since when does marble and other random stone squeak when it's old instead of just eroding, hm, James?" Sirius shot back before darting back and forth from one side of the hallway to the other.

James sighed, stepping back when Sirius nearly trampled him. "What're you doing?"

Sirius had narrowed the width he was running in, and was now running back and forth along the length of the hallway. He stopped again, retraced his steps from the length section of his run, and nodded. "James, you might want to move."

James rolled his eyes. "Why?"

Sirius paid the comment no mind. He just drew his wand and pointed it at the spot in front of him. "Allo Humora." Nothing happened. He clenched his jaw, and then seemed to get an idea. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

There was a horrid scraping noise that led to a creaking, and the boys just gawked as part of the floor started to rise. James felt his foot raise and looked down, seeing part of the tile under him start to rise as well. He scrambled back and continued to look on as a section of the tiles that had risen folded in on themselves. When the tiles stopped moving, there was a five-by-four foot opening in the floor. The more odd thing- a staircase was visible, leading down into the darkness.

"Sirius… what did you do… seriously?" James sputtered.

"I don't know." Sirius blinked. "Let's find out." He headed for the staircase.

James grabbed his arm. "No! Are you mad?

Sirius blinked. "Yes," He turned back to the stairs again.

"You have no idea what's down there!" James protested.

Sirius looked at him and beamed, pointing his wand upward. "One way to find out, innit? Lumos." A small white light started up at the tip of his wand. "Come on, then." He looped his free arm around James'.

James yanked it back hard. "No!" He turned when he heard footsteps, only relaxing when he saw it was the girls. "Oh look, your reinforcements are here. Hello, girls. What happened to meeting us in a half hour?"

"We finished early." Tara replied, then pointed at the hole. "What is that?"

"No idea. Wanna explore?" Sirius asked.

"Why do I have a feeling we don't have a choice?" Tara asked.

"You don't. Come on, then." Sirius muttered 'Lumos' again as the light faded, then grabbed both of the girls hands' before dragging them towards the hole.

"This is… it's pitch black down there!" Bridget protested.

Sirius looked down at his wand and grunted.

Bridget squirmed. "I still don't like it."

James rolled his eyes. He knew they wouldn't take much convincing.

"Ack we dru eht."

"What?" Bridget asked.

Sirius bit down, then nudged one side of his wand out of his mouth with his tongue. "Jack. Would. Do. It." He repeated, then took the wand out of his mouth completely now.

Bridget shrugged. "He might be my twin, but we have different interpretations of danger, you know. I don't like this."

"You have James, Tara and I, Bridge." Sirius pressed. "Please?" He asked, offering a puppy face.

Bridget sighed. "Tara, what do you think?"

Tara sighed. "I think I don't have a choice because Sirius would never forgive me if I didn't go with him."

James gawked. "Tara, this could lead to one of the dungeons. You don't know what could be down there."

"…The Potions room?" Tara shrugged.

James moaned, and then covered his face. "I'm not going to win, am I?" He looked at Bridget. "Are we, really, hm?"

Bridget shrugged. "If Tara's going to go…"

James groaned again. "Right, girls travel in packs. I forgot about that. Fine, let's go. If we die, I'm going to come back and tell my parents to tell everyone it was your fault."

Sirius shrugged. "Well, then I'd be dead anyway so my parents wouldn't have to bother killing me. Now, let's go!" He

Sirius grinned. "Right. Now that we're all in agreement…" He tossed his wand up so it circled once in the air before he grabbed it and pointed it towards the hole, illuminating the stone and most of the staircase. "Onwards!"

"…Show off." His three companions muttered simultaneously.

"Hush. You all just wish you were me."

HP HP HP HP HP -

The four were starting to wonder if going down the hidden passage was even worth it. They had been walking for a couple of minutes, and there was nothing but closed doors in the dark, straight hallway. Nothing branched off anywhere.

"This is boring, let's go back." Sirius sighed.

"Yes, let's!" James nodded, turning around. He stopped short when he saw Remus looking back at them, looking quite stunned. "Remus! There you are! Where have you been all day?" He noticed the other boy looked pale. "Remus, are you alright?" He grinned. "Too much chocolate?"

"No. Listen, you all need to get out of here now." Remus replied.

Sirius laughed. "Why, Remus? You about to puke all over?" He started to go over to him.

Remus pointed at his friend. "Don't come closer, I mean it, I- AH!" He hunched over, his face riddled with pain.

"Remus?" Tara shrieked, stepping forward.

Remus backed up more. "No! Most of all, you stay away! I told all of you to go-AHHH!" He hunched over more, and the others just stared with half confused, half disturbed looks when they saw that the part of his spine exposed from his shirt riding up practically pulsed before retreating back into his back, but it still stuck out.

Tara shrieked again, and James and Sirius looked at her. Her face was covered in evidence that she was completely terrified. She noticed them looking at her.

"Tell anyone I screamed like that and you won't even know what hit you," she threatened, then turned to her friend. "What's wrong?"

"Tara, really…" Remus cut himself off when he let out what honestly sounded like an animalistic roar more than anything human.

The others exchanged worried looks, then turned around when they heard footsteps descending the staircase. For a second Sirius thought they might almost be facing more danger, but as he heard James intake a deep breath, a small kid rounded the corner in a Halloween costume.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Sirius demanded.

"Saw a whole in the floor," the kid shrugged, "Wanted to see where it led to." He looked at Remus. "What's wrong with him?"

"Well you need to go back…" Sirius insisted.

Another roar from Remus made everyone of them jump out of their skin.

"What do we do?" James said.

"Give him some more chocolate!" Sirius suggested, "Who doesn't like chocolate?"

He looked expectantly at James, who dug around in his pockets. "I don't have any!" He called

It was then that Sirius noticed the boy had a bucket full of Halloween candy in his hand. The question was, was how to get it from him. It wouldn't be easy. Or would it be? He knew his idea of what spell to use was a long shot, but he didn't care. "Expelliarmus!" Sirius cried, pointing his wand at the kid. By some miracle, the bucket of candy and chocolate flew into Sirius' hands. Sirius unwrapped one of the chocolates and threw it at Remus.

The treat bounced off the boy's face.

The friends and straggler just stared as Remus' legs grew on their own accord before bending in the opposite direction they were supposed to.

Tara's breath caught in her throat when the position finally jogged something in her memory. "Oh my God... guys, we need to leave, now." She said, backing in the direction of the stairs.

Sirius scoffed. "What? If you haven't noticed, our best friend is just short of dying!"

"And we're just standing here!" James blurted. "He needs help!"

Sirius tossed his hands up. "Yeah, well, we see that, don't we!" Sirius replied, motioning at Remus. He noticed the others had suddenly gone pale and were looking at Remus. He turned to look at his best friend, only to see his best friend had grown a snout. Now he saw what Tara had seen. "WEREWOLF!" He blurted. Within seconds, the entire crowd bolted for the stairs, unaware that Remus hadn't followed. They made it up the stairs and James, Sirius and Tara all blasted as many spells as they could think of to try and close the hole in the floor back up. Sirius was the one to get it, and when they were satisfied the whole was completely sealed, they all sprawled out on the floor. The boy who had the chocolate had kept running.

After he managed to regulate his breathing, Sirius looked up. "Guys… our best friend is a werewolf."

All the others could manage was a weak "Yeah." None of them knew what to say. Except it was almost poetic in a horrid way that they found out Remus' secret on Halloween.


End file.
